made man, and to hear the voice of God united to flesh hypostatically. 61 Mt 13, 24 52 The kingdom of the heavens and the kingdom of God is said to be the first coming of the Lord Christ as he says: but if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom has come upon you . and again: The kingdom of the heavens is like a man sowing good seed in his own field; for each of these hints at the first coming. The resurrection is called kingdom as he says: until I drink it new in the kingdom . The proclamation itself is also called kingdom, as the agent of the kingdom, as he says: The kingdom of the heavens is like a grain of mustard and the kingdom of the heavens is like leaven; for through each parable the proclamation is hinted at; for just as the mustard seed, being very small when it is sown, spreads out and extends into a large tree, so also the word of the proclamation, being very small and at first sown and revealed in Judea alone, later from there spread out and ran through the whole world. And just as the leaven, being small, leavens the whole lump, so also the grace of the proclamation, having been cast into the human lump, transformed the whole to the obedience of Christ, making it bread and binding it together and unifying our nature which was scattered in error and dispersed and dissolved. Thus the proclamation itself is also called kingdom of the heavens. And the enjoyment and possession of eternal good things is also called kingdom of the heavens, as he says: The kingdom of the heavens is like a hidden treasure; for it is hidden and secured in the sweats and labors of virtue and in the struggles and toils for piety, and being hidden in them it is found; for finding it is not without hardship. And in them again it is hidden and guarded; for it is not for one who has found it to relax and be negligent, but one must labor and be exceedingly vigilant for the finding until we come to be in perfect possession and enjoyment of it manifestly and through experience of it, and not hiddenly and by knowledge alone and good hopes. To this meaning of the kingdom the parable of the pearl is also related; for our life is like a merchant's trade, and we all seek and deal in the things from there, but some in deeds and truly, others by tongue and for appearance's sake. He who seeks truly and from the heart has thus found, that is, he has come into knowledge and comprehension of the treasure and the pearl; for this is what "having found" means in each of the parables, that is, having recognized, having understood precisely and having a great desire for it, being hopeful of attaining it; for here "having found" does not mean "having acquired" or "having taken possession of"; for he would not have added, and from his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. And again: having gone away he sold all that he had, and so on, but "having found," as we said, means having recognized and having become exceedingly desirous and being hopeful of attaining it. For this reason he also rejoices and from his joy sells all other things, that is, he puts aside and casts away for the sake of acquiring the kingdom of the heavens. The second coming of Christ is also called kingdom, and this has great significance in the divine scripture; in which sense he also says here: The kingdom of the heavens is like a net, and so on. Consider then also the order of the parables. The first is taken first from the coming, and the second likewise, but the one introduces differences of bad and good lives, the other rather of orthodox and heretical doctrines. The third and fourth, the power and strength and manner of growth of the proclamation. The fourth and fifth, the manner and zeal and achievement of those who succeed. And the sixth, over all, his second coming, in which the reward and recompense of those who succeed and those who fail occurs. There is also another meaning of kingdom: the exactness of the divine scripture, both old and new
ἐνανθρωπήσαντα, καὶ ἀκοῦσαι φωνὴν θεοῦ ἑνωθέντος σαρκὶ καθ' ὑπόστασιν. 61 Mt 13, 24 52 Βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν καὶ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ λέγεται μὲν ἡ πρώτη τοῦ δεσπότου Χριστοῦ παρουσία καθὼς λέγει· εἰ δὲ ἐν πνεύματι θεοῦ ἐκβάλλω τὰ δαιμόνια, ἄρα ἔφθασεν ἐφ' ὑμᾶς ἡ βασιλεία . καὶ πάλιν· ὁμοιώθη ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν ἀνθρώπῳ σπείροντι καλὸν σπέρμα ἐν τῷ ἰδίῳ ἀγρῷ· τούτων γὰρ ἑκάτερον τὴν πρώτην ὑπαινίττεται παρουσίαν. λέγεται βασιλεία ἡ ἀνάστασις καθώς φησιν· ἕως ἂν αὐτὸ πίνω καινὸν ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ . λέγεται βασιλεία καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ κήρυγμα ὡς τῆς βασιλείας πρόξενον καθώς φησιν· ὁμοιώθη ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν κόκκῳ σινάπεως καὶ ὁμοία ἐστὶν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν ζύμῃ· δι' ἑκατέρας γὰρ παραβολῆς τὸ κήρυγμα ὑπαινίττεται· ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁ τοῦ σινάπεως κόκκος βραχύτατος ὢν ἐν τῷ σπείρεσθαι εἰς δένδρον μέγα ἐξαπλοῦται καὶ ἐκτείνεται, οὕτως καὶ ὁ τοῦ κηρύγματος λόγος βραχύτατος ὢν καὶ ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ μόνῃ κατ' ἀρχὰς σπειρόμενός τε καὶ διαφαινόμενος ὕστερον ἐκεῖθεν εἰς πᾶσαν ἐξηπλώθη καὶ διέδραμεν τὴν οἰκουμένην. καὶ ὥσπερ ἡ ζύμη μικρὰ οὖσα ὅλον τὸ φύραμα ζυμοῖ, οὕτω καὶ ἡ τοῦ κηρύγματος χάρις τῷ ἀνθρωπίνῳ φυράματι ἐμβληθεῖσα ὅλον μετέστησεν εἰς τὴν ὑπακοὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἀρτοποιήσασα καὶ συσφίγξασα καὶ ἑνοποιήσασα τὴν διεσπαρμένην ἐν τῇ πλάνῃ καὶ διεσκεδασμένην καὶ διαλελυμένην φύσιν ἡμῶν. οὕτως καὶ τὸ κήρυγμα αὐτὸ λέγεται βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν. λέγεται δὲ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν καὶ αὕτη ἡ ἀπόλαυσις καὶ ἡ κτῆσις τῶν αἰωνίων ἀγαθῶν καθώς φησιν· ὁμοία ἐστὶν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν θησαυρῷ κεκρυμμένῳ· κέκρυπται γὰρ αὕτη καὶ ἠσφάλισται ἐν τοῖς τῆς ἀρετῆς ἱδρῶσι καὶ πόνοις καὶ τοῖς ὑπὲρ εὐσεβείας ἀγῶσι καὶ κόποις καὶ ἐν αὐτοῖς κεκρυμμένη εὑρίσκεται· οὐ γάρ ἐστιν αὐτῆς εὕρεσις ἀταλαίπωρος. καὶ ἐν αὐτοῖς πάλιν κρύπτεται καὶ φυλάττεται· οὐ γάρ ἐστιν εὑρόντα ἀναπεσεῖν καὶ διαμελῆσαι, ἀλλὰ δεῖ πονεῖν καὶ ὑπεραγρυπνεῖν τοῦ εὑρήματος ἕως ἂν αὐτοῦ ἐν τελείᾳ κτήσει καὶ ἀπολαύσει περιφανῶς καὶ διὰ πείρας αὐτῆς, ἀλλὰ μὴ κεκρυμμένως καὶ τῇ ἐπιγνώσει μόνῃ καὶ ταῖς ἀγαθαῖς ἐλπίσιν γενώμεθα. τούτῳ τῷ σημαινομένῳ τῆς βασιλείας καὶ ἡ τοῦ μαργαρίτου παραβολὴ ὑποβάλλεται· ἐμπορίᾳ γὰρ ἔοικεν ὁ βίος ἡμῶν καὶ πάντες τὰ ἐκεῖθεν ζητοῦμεν καὶ πραγματευόμεθα, ἀλλ' οἱ μὲν τοῖς ἔργοις καὶ ἀληθῶς, οἱ δὲ διὰ τῆς γλώττης καὶ ἐπὶ σχήματος. ὁ οὖν ἀληθῶς καὶ ἀπὸ καρδίας ζητῶν οὕτως εὗρεν, τοῦτ' ἔστιν ἐν ἐπιγνώσει καὶ καταλήψει τοῦ θησαυροῦ καὶ τοῦ μαργαρίτου γέγονεν· τοῦτο γὰρ ἐν ἑκατέρᾳ τῶν παραβολῶν σημαίνει τὸ εὑρών, τοῦτ' ἔστιν ἐπιγνούς, κατανοήσας ἀκριβῶς καὶ λίαν ἐπιθυμητικῶς ἔχων περὶ αὐτὸ εὔελπις ὢν τοῦ τυχεῖν· οὐ γὰρ τὸ εὑρὼν ἐνταῦθα σημαίνει τὸ κτησάμενος ἢ κατασχών· οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἐπῆγεν καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς χαρᾶς αὐτοῦ ὑπάγει καὶ πάντα ὅσα ἔχει πωλεῖ καὶ ἀγοράζει τὸν ἀγρὸν ἐκεῖνον. καὶ πάλιν· ἀπελθὼν πάντα ὅσα εἶχεν πέπρακεν καὶ ἑξῆς, ἀλλὰ τὸ εὑρὼν ὥσπερ ἔφαμεν τὸ ἐπιγνοὺς καὶ ἐν ἐπιθυμίᾳ σφόδρα γεγονὼς καὶ εὔελπις ὢν τοῦ τυχεῖν σημαίνει. διὰ τοῦτο καὶ χαίρει καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς χαρᾶς πάντα τὰ ἄλλα πιπράσκει, τοῦτ' ἔστιν ἀποτίθεται καὶ ἀποβάλλεται ἕνεκεν τῆς κτήσεως τῆς βασιλείας τῶν οὐρανῶν. λέγεται βασιλεία καὶ ἡ δευτέρα παρουσία τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ τοῦτο πολὺ τὸ σημαινόμενον ἐν τῇ θείᾳ γραφῇ· καθ' ὃ σημαινόμενον καὶ ἐνταῦθά φησιν· ὁμοιώθη ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν σαγήνῃ καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. σκόπει οὖν καὶ τὴν τάξιν τῶν παραβολῶν. ἡ μὲν πρώτη ἀπὸ τῆς παρουσίας τὸ πρῶτον λαμβάνεται καὶ ἡ δευτέρα ὁμοίως, ἀλλ' ἡ μὲν βίων εἰσάγει διαφορὰς φαύλων καὶ χρηστῶν, ἡ δὲ δογμάτων μᾶλλον ὀρθῶν καὶ αἱρετικῶν. ἡ δὲ τρίτη καὶ τετάρτη τοῦ κηρύγματος τὴν δύναμιν καὶ ἰσχὺν καὶ τὸν τρόπον τῆς αὐξήσεως. ἡ δὲ τετάρτη καὶ πέμπτη τῶν κατορθούντων τὸν τρόπον καὶ τὴν σπουδὴν καὶ τὴν ἐπίτευξιν. ἡ δὲ ἐπὶ πᾶσι καὶ ἕκτη τὴν δευτέραν αὐτοῦ παρουσίαν, ἐν ᾗ τῶν κατορθωσάντων καὶ τῶν διαμαρτόντων ἡ ἀμοιβὴ γίνεται καὶ ἀντίδοσις. ἔστιν σημαινόμενον καὶ ἕτερον βασιλείας ἡ τῆς θείας γραφῆς παλαιᾶς τε καὶ νέας ἀκριβὴς